The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) reportedly disbursed N2.08 trillion in allocations to Local Government councils between July and December 2024.
The Punch made this revelation in its latest publication on Tuesday, December 16.
However, despite the July 2024 Supreme Court judgement granting full financial autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas, it was gathered that the allocations were still paid to state government accounts.
This development, however, was not well received by officials and members of the Association of the Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).
LG autonomy: Non-implementation of Supreme Court ruling
Despite a Supreme Court ruling in July 2024 mandating direct payments to Local Government Councils, the federal government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not implemented the decision.
Nearly six months after the judgment, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the FG was yet to commence direct payment to the respective LGs due to some “practical impediments.”
The fedral government’s reason has further caused frustration among LG officials and employees.
ALGON, NULGE kick
Reacting to the development, the secretary-general of ALGON, Mohammed Abubakar, while speaking on the delay in the direct payment of federal allocation to local governments, lamented the non-implementation of the Supreme Court ruling.
In an interview with The Punch, Abubakar said:
“Sincerely, we are all in the dark as we stand now. People who don’t want this LG autonomy to work are having a field day. Ordinarily, the Supreme Court judgment should not be left unattended. We are in the dark, to the extent that we cannot pinpoint what the government is trying to achieve by not enforcing the Supreme Court judgment allowing allocation to be paid directly to local government accounts.”
He noted that the associations (ALGON and NLUGE) have made their demands known to the Accountant-General of the Federation.
Abubakar added:
“The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees and ALGON had made their submissions that the LGs accounts should be opened across board and submitted to the Office of The Accountant-General for the allocation to be disbursed directly.”
Read more about LG autonomy here:
FG to begin implementation of LG autonomy
Legit earlier reported that the federal government was set to implement the Supreme Court judgment granting local government financial autonomy.
Hakeem Ambali, national president of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), said that the committee set up by the federal, state and local government authorities had concluded their meetings and signed the technical document.
